There is an episode in the fifth Friends’ season when everybody finds out about Chandler and Monica. The best part is when Phoebe decides to have a little fun with Chandler by pretending she wants to sleep with him. But Chandler realizes it is because “she knows” and plays along, because “they don’t know that we know that they know”. Chandler says:

“Ah yes. The messers…become the MESSEES!”

A person who could have said the same, is Marc Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team. He was interviewed via email by the New York Times about the sale of Register.com, a company in which Cuban owns a 13.2 per cent stake. When the article was published, Cuban felt he was grossly mis-represented and decided to publish the email conversation on his blog so that others could decide for themselves.

“Interestingly, the publication of the raw material opens the story to different interpretations by bloggers and other journalists. In the long term, that will add to the credibility of reporting in all its forms.”

Of course, it doesn’t add to the credibility of this particular article, which seems to be a work with a predetermined angle. But in a larger perspective, Ochman is right.